At least 15 dead in Damascus suburb blast

Published September 2nd, 2012 - 12:31 GMT

A strong explosion took place Sunday near the headquarters of the Syrian army in the neighborhood of Abu Roumaneh located in the center of the capital Damascus

A strong explosion took place Sunday near the headquarters of the Syrian army in the neighborhood of Abu Roumaneh located in the center of the capital Damascus, the official SANA news agency reported, without giving further details in immediate. Several people were injured and damage was caused to neighboring buildings, said SANA.

However, other sources said that the attack, claimed by a battalion of the Free Syrian Army, left several dead. The explosion was powerful and columns of smoke were visible across the capital, witnesses said.

SANA reported previously that a suicide car bomb killed 15 people on Saturday evening near a Palestinian refugee camp in a suburb of the capital Damascus, Al-Sbeineh. The attack was attributed to "an armed terrorist group." The Suzuki car, exploded near a mosque, according to the government newspaper Teshreen .

Al-Sbeineh is known to be a suburb hostile to the regime of Bashar al-Assad . Citing an official source, the newspaper said the victims' bodies were shredded by the force of the explosion, which damaged homes in the area.

On 28 August, a car bomb exploded at a funeral in a suburb of Damascus, killing 12 pro-regime supporters.